Horseback Riding
by blackpond
Summary: Break doesn't want to teach Sharon to ride on horse back and they both make their various attempts to hide their feelings. Especially Break. It's M to be on the safe side.


Disclaimer: I do not own Pandora Hearts nor do I hold any rights to it.

Break did not approve of this.

It had happened so suddenly one day.

All of a sudden Lady Sharon wanted to learn horseback riding and he hardly saw the necessity of that. So he went about trying to discuss with her all of the many perils of horseback riding but to no avail. She was determined. She was resolute. He did not want to see her fan so he discontinued all discussion of the matter with her and appealed to her grandmother.

Her grandmother did not see anything wrong with her granddaughters desire to learn to horseback ride. She said she thought it was a useful thing and would be good for Sharon who was for the most part shut up in either the mansion or Pandora. After all she wasn't allowed to go out much due to the unchanging appearance her contract had left her with. Sheryl thought it would be fun for Sharon, give her something to do, get her out of the house and also keep her from despairing, something that Sharon had become rather given to of late.

Sheryl continued on to scold Break for being too overprotective of Sharon. Break really didn't see what that had to do with anything.

"She'll be fine Xerxes." She said. "And this will make Sharon happy."

He was forced to accept defeat on that attempt.

Afterward he learned of Sharon's desire for_ him_ to teach her. He _really _did not want to teach her.

Yes, it would be hard enough to watch someone else teach her but to know that he himself had given her the knowledge with which to hurt herself would be especially intolerable. After all Sharon was small and petite with little physical strength. She could fall of the horse, be thrown from the horse, the horse could trample her. She could die and besides there was no need for her to learn to ride a horse.

"But Xerxes Nii-san, Equus is a horse…of sorts…" she smiled at the way it rhymed. "Don't you think I should learn to ride at least in honor of my chain" She cocked her head politely taking a sip of her tea.

"No, Milady." He had said scowling and squinting his one eye at her logic. "I do not see the necessity of that."

Then he learned that she would not be riding side saddle.

He hated to seem old fashioned but in the time he had come from women simply did not do that...ever. He tried, as best he could, to detail the many ways in which she might "tear" or be "damaged". She simply smirked.

"Why Xerxes Nii-san you seem quite concerned about the thought of me being "torn" or "damaged"."

Break was shocked to feel himself blushing for the first time in a long time.

_And she was able to make me do it_, he thought. _This child, no_, he thought, _she may have the body of a 13 year old but behind those innocent eyes lurks the sharp, cunning mind of a 23 year old. A 23 year old who knows me very well._

He cleared his throat.

"It is a thought I would expect you to also be concerned about Milady. After all you might someday wish to marry. What would your husband think if he were to find you ruined on your wedding night?"

Her eyes grew somber and thoughtful as she took a sip of her tea.

"Well I doubt that'll be an issue since I probably won't be able to marry, so." She took a marked interest in her saucer and Break immediately felt guilty.

He shouldn't have brought that up. At times she could be unexpectedly sensitive to things pertaining to her un-aging body.

After a moment of relative silence only filled awkwardly with birds chirping he added.

"If you truly do wish to learn horseback riding then I suppose I can teach you."

She looked up from her sip with a satisfied gleam in her eyes and he was left wondering if the entire thing had just been a ploy devised to force this reaction from him. He wouldn't put it past his Lady.

Regardless it worked and left him standing in the shade of a stable early on a Saturday morning wondering once again how he had been roped into this.

He should be in his bed, sleeping, not out here forced to give lessons he did not wish to give while imagining all the different ways in which Sharon could end up injured or worse. He was so engaged in these thoughts that he did not hear anyone approach him from behind and so was rather shocked when he felt the sharp crack of a whip on his ass.

He spun around and was about to pull Mad Hatter out when he turned to see Sharon standing there, a thin smile on her lips which spread slowly across her face like the sun breaking through the clouds.

She was blushing and that blush deepened as she looked down and bit her lip. She was holding a riding crop and that would've been scary if it had not also been so very appealing. She took her hands and held them behind her back.

"Break." She greeted.

"Milady." Break sighed.

_I've never seen her in pants before_, he thought as he took in the sight of her.

She had on a pair of appealingly tight beige pants the bottom half stuffed into her almost knee high leather riding boots. She wore a simple long sleeved white button up that was buttoned all the way up but tugged most appealingly at her chest. She wore with the shirt a flouncy white lace jabot with a deep red broach surrounded by seed pearls pinning it in place. She also had on a tight fitting brown jacket, a pair of gloves and her hair, which was in a long pink rose braid down her back, had a brown leather helmet on it.

Break smiled approvingly. He had requested the helmet as a condition of teaching her.

"Did you just hit me with your riding crop?" He asked politely.

She took two steps forward.

"Yes, I did."

"And why did you do that?" He asked.

Sharon smiled politely.

"Because you insisted that I wear this horrendous little contraption on my head."

"And that was my punishment, Milady?" he questioned her.

She nodded.

"Yes, that was your punishment." She said authoritatively.

Break smiled to himself.

_Why not?_ He thought to himself. _I'm in a good mood._

"Well, Milady I would gladly accept that punishment any day as long as it was from you."

She blushed.

"Really?" she asked.

"Yes, really." He responded.

Sharon added softly.

"I daresay you accept something similar when I've got my fan."

Break winced a little thinking of the sore spots for days that he'd inherited from that fan of hers.

"I do believe you are right, Milady." He laughed. "Ah, but don't you look nice in that."

"You think so?" she asked, a little shocked.

"Yes, I very much think so."

"Even with the helmet?" She questioned haughtily.

"Yes, Milady, even with the helmet."

She just smiled and stood there with him for a second.

"Milady?"

"Yes."

"Am I to take it that you bought that outfit in order to seduce that new Pandora Agent they've brought in?" He teased. "I mean I know he is 15 but still he does have that boyish air that you do _so_ adore, is that not so, Milady?" He looked over at her and for just a second he saw something flash across her eyes that could've easily been mistaken for hurt.

But she quickly replaced it with something else.

"No, Break. I did not buy it for that purpose and on top of that I have no idea what _Pandora Agent_ you are referencing." She started walking rather quickly ahead of him.

He strolled along behind her.

"Really? Not that charming brunette?" He asked her.

"No." she said flatly.

Break shrugged.

"Hmm. Perhaps for the Vessalius boy then? I'm not sure about you but I've heard in certain circles some rather intriguing rumors that the men of the Vessalius house like a good firm _disciplining_ now and then."

Sharon stopped suddenly.

"No, Break." She said and she sounded like she was crying or about to.

He had just been teasing her. He really hadn't meant to make her cry.

"Besides," she continued. "You don't have to lie."

"And just what was I lying about?" he asked, for once sounding serious.

"I don't look good in this." She mumbled.

"And what makes you say that?" he asked.

She turned around and it was apparent that she had cried a little. She looked down at her chest and then to the side pursing her lips.

Break immediately understood.

"Are you talking about your breasts, Milady?" He asked rather bluntly.

She was just barely able to bring herself to look at him.

She nodded and he smiled.

"Well, I don't see anything wrong with them."

She shook her head slowly.

"Break you have always been quite…_polite _about my state but I have no illusions about myself. I hardly have a body that any man could desire." She was looking down at the ground, blushing furiously, making a very obvious attempt not to look at him.

Break studied her for a moment.

It was easy to forget the burden that Sharon carried and the things that she had given up mostly because most of the time she was so good at making it seem easy and covering it up. But there were times when that façade slipped and he could see how much she was suffering for her decision.

It was so easy to just see Sharon and ignore the fact that she was actually a 23 year old woman stuck in an un-aging body that had not yet reached its potential. In moments like these he could really see how much it grated on her.

Break straightened his shoulders and walked toward her, for once his own cheerful serene façade slipping.

Sharon on the other hand had started crying.

"I-I'm sorry." She stuttered. "This is really very silly. I knew what making the contract could mean. I knew there might be consequences. This is nothing new. I shouldn't be-" She stopped suddenly, looking up and seeing that Break was right in front of her.

"Sharon, you are right that you may not have aged up to the potential that you could have but the way I see it you are all the more lovely for it."

She just looked at him, a little dumbstruck.

"You have a very petite body." He continued. "Most men _like_ petite bodies. Though many will not admit it they enjoy the feeling of power that comes from having something small and slightly fragile pressed against themselves. They find it satisfying. It makes them feel stronger and more powerful than they really are, like they've got something precious to protect. The truth is most men desire something precious to protect."

She just looked at him.

He continued.

"In addition it is a bit of an ego stroke, if you were to have sexual intercourse, for the man because it allows him to feel that his…" He paused, searching for the correct word. "…endowment is rather large compared to the smaller frailer size of his partner. Men enjoy feeling big compared to the smaller frailer size of their partner. Men enjoy feeling big compared to something small. It is an added bonus with you however because though your outward appearance is petite and frail you are indeed very strong and capable. You can bring a man down to his knees and lift him back up again with all the grace in the world and_ that_ is very appealing. It should also be brought to your attention that you a have a charmingly proportionate body. You are very small which allows your breasts to stand out rather nicely along with your ass. You have a lovely silhouette, a small waist, a high rounded ass and perky ample breasts. If those same breasts were on a more mature body they would not look as good. The fact that they are on your more small and delicate frame allow them to shine and stand out, as they should. You should never make any mistake about it Milady, you are lovely from head to toe. Any man would have to consider himself lucky to be able to enjoy your particular charms and there are many. Moreover you are in a state of perfection which spares you some of the more unsavory aspects of aging."

He leaned in conspiratorially.

"In ten years Ada Vessalius's beasts will be on their way down south whereas yours will be as perky as ever, having not sagged one bit. You, Milady, should be proud of your body, not ashamed of it. You are lovely Sharon."

He thought about not doing it but nobody else was around so… He reached out and cupped and then lifted and squeezed Sharon's breasts.

She gasped, her face flushed and she jolted a little but she didn't back away and she didn't stop him.

"_These_," He said, squeezing them a little more. ", are lovely. You have nothing to be ashamed of."

She looked at him and the mix of emotions on her face was difficult. She could feel her tears swelling up again and these tears were different from the ones before. They felt like happy ecstatic tears. She wanted to hug him. She wanted to tell him just how much it meant to her for him to say that. She wanted to kiss him, but she didn't do any of that.

"Thank you, Xerxes Nii-san." She said, knowing immediately that she did not mean the Nii-san part, so why did she say it?

He beamed down at her, a look of general warmth and love flowing from his eyes.

"You are very welcome, Milady. But you also shouldn't thank me. I only said things that were true." He thought for a minute and a smile came to his face. "They are also rather firm, though I did expect for them to be corseted."

She smiled, her tears receding.

"I'm wearing a corset but it's just an under bust so my upper half is free. I thought it would be comfortable that way."

"Oh, really." He mused.

"Yes." She smiled. "Oh, I'd better go get the saddle. I'll be right back." She said turning her head back toward the stable, trying to wipe at her nose as inconspicuously as possible.

Break called out to her.

"Sharon."

She turned around.

"Yes."

"Whatever man gets you will be the luckiest alive. You are quite the prize and well worth the wait."

Her face fell for just a moment.

"Thank you Xerxes." She said as she turned away.

_That could be you_, she was thinking. _I want it to be you._

But she didn't say anything and just walked away.

Break on the other hand was watching her go, admiring the way that those beige pants hugged her behind oh-so-nicely. He wondered how he would do with the image of her straddling a horse.

He'd meant everything that he'd said except for the part about the other man.

Every time he thought about the idea that someday she might find somebody and leave…it filled him with sorrow and a deep down kind of yearning and lack that he was not prepared to deal with. The thought of another man laying his hands on her was a thought that he could not bare. It made him feel jealous. And he told himself that it was nothing. That it was just the over protective feelings of an older male toward a younger female, like how a father or brother would feel, but he also knew that that wasn't it at all and he hated himself for it because he knew that he did not deserve her.

The rest of the day played out smoothly and Sharon did not end up hurt though Break had spent much of the day holding his breath.

By the end of it she was doing quite well and her black horse, who looked a lot like Equus, who had started out lukewarm toward her, was now eating out of the palm of her hand. Break had just smiled.

Sharon had that quality about her.

-M. Palovna


End file.
